Celebrating Easter

I've been thinking a lot lately about our traditions as a couple. We don't have too many, but we've tried to establish some, because I think they're important. Not just for us, but for our kids. Traditions make people feel like part of group and build a sense of connection and shared memories in a family. So I want our children to have traditions that are just ours. We've got some pretty good Christmas and Thanksgiving traditions and my little book that I wrote about here is chock full of other ideas once we have slightly older kids.

But I have nothing for Easter.

Easter at our house usually goes like this: It's the middle of tax season. Jamie is exhausted and working long days 6 days a week. For a week or so before Easter I try to come up with something meaningful to do. Usually a day or two before Jamie's grandparents ask if we have plans and if we'd like to do lunch with them. And then on Easter day we go to church, have a late lunch with the grandparents and call it a day.

It's not a bad way to spend a Sunday, it just doesn't have anything meaningful really. I want our Easter celebrations to enforce to our kids that this day is important. I hope that we will do a good job of teaching them year-round about Christ and His sacrifice for us; how He defeated death and opened the doors to Heaven. But if we're going to teach them 364 days a year that Jesus' death and resurrection are the basis of everything we do then shouldn't that 365th day, the day all of Christianity sets aside to celebrate his resurrection, be something special?

So for the next several months, until Easter comes around again I'll be making it a point to take notes of any great Easter/Holy Week ideas I hear. Any suggestions?